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Monday, 2 December 2013

Former Army Chief
General VK Singh’s proposal made in 2011 for merging two separate promotional
avenues for officers of the rank of Major General and above has been formally
dropped by the Army headquarters.

As of now, the
existing ‘two-stream’ promotion policy shall continue when officers are
promoted from Brigadier to Major General and then onwards as Lt Generals, said
sources, adding that this was also the opinion of the Ministry of Defence.

The ‘two-stream’
policy segregates officers in two distinct paths of progression when they get
promoted as Major General. The categorisation is done on the basis of the
annual confidential reports of the officers. While one category is called
‘Command-and Staff’, the other is termed as ‘Only Staff’. Officers in the
former stream go on to command divisions and corps and are also in contention
to become Army commanders. Those in ‘only staff’ do not get this chance.

The two-stream
policy had come into force in 2009 during the tenure of General Deepak Kapoor.
In 2010, the then Army Chief Gen VK Singh sought to merge the ‘two streams’
saying it was a suggestion of a study conducted within the Army.

The Defence
Ministry had rejected the proposal saying that promotion policies can’t change
with every new chief and told the Army to go for an in-depth study to iron out
differences. The Army has now opted to maintain status quo and abandon VK
Singh’s proposal.

One of the reasons
to create the ‘two-stream’ policy was to ‘adjust’ greater number of officers
after some senior posts were added by the ministry on the recommendation of the
Ajai Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC). While the cadre has grown, very few posts
have been created at the Command-level formations. So, the segregation of
streams is considered important to allow only a fixed number of officers in the
Command stream.

In the past four
years, two mountain divisions have been added allowing for two Major
General-level vacancies in the Command stream. A new Mountain strike crops is
coming up and this could open up at least four posts - one Lt General and three
at the Maj-Gen level. “All new promotees cannot be put into a single stream as
this would reduce the tenure for officer at the helm, seriously impacting
readiness and making the tenure meaningless”, said a senior functionary in the
ministry.

Currently, a Major
General gets to command a division for around 12-15 months and a Lt General
commands a corps for around 12 months. If everyone is put in one stream, the
tenures will get reduced drastically. On the flip-side, those who get selected
for ‘only staff’ stream lose out on commanding battle formations and have to be
contended with desk-bound jobs, leading to heart-burn. A division has around
15,000-18,000 troops while a corps has about 45,000 troops.

The twin streams

The ‘two-stream’
policy segregates officers in two categories — Command-and Staff and Only Staff
— when they get promoted as Major General. The categorisation is on the basis
of ACRs

Officers in the
Command and Staff stream go on to command divisions and corps and are also in
the race to become Army commanders. Those in ‘only staff’ category don’t get
this chance

VK Singh’s merger
idea

The two-stream
policy had come into force in 2009 during General Deepak Kapoor’ tenure. In
2010, then Army Chief Gen VK Singh sought to merge the ‘two streams’ saying it
was a suggestion of a study conducted within the Army

The Defence
Ministry had rejected the proposal saying that promotion policies can’t change
with every new chief

The Army has now
opted to maintain status quo and abandon VK Singh’s proposal

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131202/nation.htm#8

Don't aggravate border trouble: China to India

New
Delhi/Shanghai, December 1

China has urged
India not to aggravate problems on the border shared by the two nations, a day
after President Pranab Mukherjee toured Arunachal Pradesh and called it an
integral part of the country.

The two countries,
which fought a brief border war in 1962, only last month signed a pact to
ensure that differences on the border do not spark a confrontation. But
Pranab's visit to Arunachal Pradesh in the remote eastern stretch of the
Himalayas that China claims as its own provoked a fresh exchange of words.

"We hope that
India will proceed along with China, protecting our broad relationship, and
will not take any measures that could complicate the problem, and together we
can protect peace and security in the border regions," China's official
news agency, Xinhua, quoted Qin Gang, a spokesman of the country's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, as saying.

China has of late
grown increasingly assertive and questioned New Delhi's claims over Arunachal,
calling it instead South Tibet. Mukherjee told members of the Assembly it was
"a core stakeholder in India's Look East foreign policy" that intends
to link the country's northeast with South East Asia. "We seek to make our
neighbours partners in our development," Mukherjee said in Itanagar.

"We believe
that India's future and our own best economic interests are served by closer
integration with Asia," Pranab said. China lays claim to more than 90,000
sq km (35,000 sq miles) disputed by New Delhi in the eastern sector of the
Himalayas, while India says China occupies 38,000 square km of its territory on
the Aksai Chin plateau in the west. — Reuters

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131202/edit.htm#7

Dangers of cuts in the defence budget

Lt Gen J.S. Bajwa
(Retd)

India must strive
to develop Comprehensive Nation Power (CNP) to tackle the challenges posed by
the shift in the global strategic focus towards the Asia-Pacific region, marked
by jostling between the US and China, as well as the intense competition among
nations in the security arena despite growing inter-dependence”.

The statement was
made by the Prime Minister at the Combined Commanders Conference as reported by
the media on November 23, 2013. In his address, to quote media reports, he
warned that India might have to trim the defence budget due to the economic
slowdown over the last two years. The armed forces will have to exercise
“prudence” and “cut our coat according to our cloth” in their defence
acquisition plans.

This comes three
days after the media reported that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) had finally
issued the Government Sanction Letter (GSL) to the Army for raising of the new
Mountain Strike Corps (or as some insist to term it as ‘Strategic Reserve’)
based on the approval of the same by the Cabinet Committee on Security on July
17, 2013. The GSL is the authority for the Army to initiate all processes for
physically raising, equipping, locating and operationalising the Corps. It is
also a concrete acceptance by the government of making available funds for this
new raising.

However, the PM’s
warning of a defence budget cut sends dichotomous signals. In addition, with
the PM directing that there is need to exercise prudence in defence
acquisitions and that the defence acquisition plans should bear in mind the
need to cut the coat according to the cloth hints at a substantial slow down in
the whole exercise. This latest direction of the PM will render the new
Mountain Strike Corps as the first casualty of a budget cut. As reported
earlier in the media, General VK Singh, former Chief of Army Staff, had
apprised the PM of the existing “critical hollowness” of the Army in ammunition
and equipment which was pegged at a staggering Rs 41,000 crore and would take
several years for 100 per cent operational capability to be achieved, provided
the defence budget caters for it and the procurement or indigenous Defence
Public Sector units can manufacture and deliver these as required.

While the Prime
Minister emphasised the need to tackle the challenges as will arise with the
global strategic shift towards the Asia-Pacific Region, the likely defence
budget cut indicated by him while addressing military commanders is an
immediate dampener for the proposed modernisation and critical new raisings

With another Rs
90,000 crore, as is being quoted, required for the operationalising of the
Mountain Strike Corps, the situation seems grimmer and pessimistically dismal.
Logistic infrastructure that will be required to be constructed for locating
and then operationally deploying such a corps will entail additional
expenditure. Figuratively, it would entail a committed expenditure of
approximately Rs 20,000 -- 25,000 crore every year for the next seven to eight
years.

While the manpower
and the headquarters will be raised by side-stepping and subsequently made up
through fresh recruitment, however, initially the equipment for this corps will
have to be issued from the existing reserves which are in the obsolete and
obsolescence phases of their technology life-span. As a result the Mountain
Strike Corps will, first, be deficient in equipment (sharing the existing
poverty), and second, the equipment will not be optimally matching the role
assigned to it as the long elaborate red taped procurement procedure will
commence once these units start forming on ground. Maybe, the annual armed
forces data compiled by the likes of SIPRI will indicate existence of such a
force, but its operational potential will be long in the building up.

From the operational
point of view, for offensive operations in the mountains and that too in the
extreme high altitude areas, deployment of a force of this size is likely to be
constrained for the type of task assigned to it, that is, “Rapid-reaction in
high altitude areas”. Even for deployment piece-meal in independent brigade
group or division size forces, there will be requirement of extensive and
elaborate preparation in terms of infrastructure like well concealed and
protected logistic areas on the various axis in Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim
(as indicated by the media reports), advance landing grounds (ALG), forward
area armament and refuelling points (FAARP), large helipads as forward mounting
bases, road network (minimum classification 40) to induct follow on forces and
to be able to logistically sustain the additional forces that will move forward
in the wake of such operations.

All this will
require induction of weapons and equipment incorporating modern technology,
most of which will, perforce, have to be imported. For example, suitable
transport aircraft in the large numbers are required, such as the Hercules
C-130J, six of which have been recently acquired by the Indian Air Force;
rotary wing aircraft that are able to operate optimally at these extreme altitudes
– the forces may even consider procurement of the V-22 OSPREY, (the successful
tilt-rotor technology aircraft being exploited by the United States Marine
Corps) for viable Special Forces operations as the even the best rotary wing
aircraft in the global aircraft market have their limitations in performance on
the Himalayan altitudes; unmanned aerial vehicles/drones for surveillance and
even the armed variety for quick response; fire support assets that can be
moved under-slung at these altitudes and maintaining a continuous supply of
ammunition for these guns and multi-barrel rocket launchers besides so much
more.

All these vital
weapon systems and equipment are to be acquired, either through imports or
under the clause of “develop and make indigenously”. In the former case of
importing the equipment, the Defence Procurement Procedure is elaborately
red-taped and as a result it proceeds at a snail’s pace. Moreover, the
officials and bureaucrats dread the consequences of a witch-hunt that could be
initiated years after the deal is signed which seems to have become the norm.
While in the latter case, the Defence Research and Development Organisation has
failed the armed forces in developing or harnessing modern weapons and
equipment technology so as to be able to design and produce state-of-art
products to meet their requirements. All this entails heavy financial support,
which seems in jeopardy.

While the PM
emphasised the need to tackle the challenges as will arise with the global
strategic shift towards the Asia-Pacific Region, the likely defence budget cut
was an immediate dampener to India’s regional power status aspirations. Merely
making a statement with regard to CNP does not prepare the armed forces or the
country to be able to, meet head on, the varied challenges that will arise in
the evolving dynamic geo-political scenario unfolding in the Asia-Pacific
Region.

The PM in his
address referred to Comprehensive National Power – a term made fashionable by
the Chinese research endeavour of a faculty member of the National Defence
University (NDU), Beijing. The Chinese NDU was established to prepare them to
take on a commensurate role as a future power of global reckoning.
Consequently, the Chinese NDU systematically approached the issue of national security
and contributed substantially to national security strategy formulation and
policy decision making. They have simultaneously addressed the aspects of
economy, science and technology, education, infrastructure and defence research
and development and defence industry, reprioritising in sync with economic
growth.

India too has
initiated steps to set up the Indian National Defence University (INDU) when
the PM laid its foundation stone in May this year. However, the process of it
fructifying is not before 2018 that too if the bureaucracy does not throw in
spanners seeing that there is not much gain in it for them or if it is
perceived that the Services are likely to have a more substantive say in policy
making. Till then CNP will remain an impressive figure of speech with no
substance to back such reference.

The Combined
Commanders Conference was always scheduled in the month of October every year,
when the Army had its week long Army Commanders Conference (as also similar
conferences being held by the other two Services). One day out of this week was
usually earmarked for the PM addressing the Combined Commanders Conference.
This is an annual feature and could be included in the PM’s schedule well
before time. The fact that it was now rescheduled to November is a subtle
indication of the level of importance given to Service matters by those
responsible in advising the PM and his scheduling as much by those accepting
such a change in institutional practices.

All put together,
the constraints of funds, the acquisition procedures and the attitude towards
national security are indicative that the forebodings for equipping and
operationalising the Mountain Strike Corps in the seven years time frame, as
visualised, are ominous, and bleak.

Strangled by fund
crunch

The Mountain
Strike Corps has been conceived to enhance India’s offensive capability in high
altitude areas along the Himalayas

In is envisioned
to have a strength of about 50,000 troops equipped with state-of-the-art
equipment and specialised aerial platforms to assist deployment

The PM's warning
of a likely defence budget cut could render the proposed Corps as the first
casualty

The new Corps will
require additional manpower and induction of new weapon systems and equipment,
the total cost of which is pegged at Rs 90,000 crore

While import of
military equipment is bogged down in red-tape, the DRDO has failed to develop
indigenous weapon systems

BJP today asked
the UPA government to table in Parliament during its forthcoming winter session
the Border Defence Agreement Cooperation signed with China by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in Beijing in October.

BJP president
Rajnath Singh also said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not think of
taking Parliament into confidence before entering into the agreement.

"Recently
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited China where he signed the Border Defence
Cooperation Agreement which has many controversial clauses. One clause, as I am
made to understand, is that border forces of either country would not tail each
other if they inadvertently entered each other's territory," he said,
addressing a public rally here.

"They (UPA)
did not take Parliament into confidence. Parliament session is starting from
December 5. We will raise this question in the Parliament...The agreement with
China should be tabled in Parliament," he said.

The BJP leader
also said India should issue stapled visas to Tibetans in response to China
issuing such visas to those living in Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

"If China
says it will issue stapled visa to people of Arunachal Pradesh and J&K,
Prime Minister should tell China strongly that India will also issue stapled
visas to people living in Tibet...This answer should be given to them,"
Singh said.

Criticising the
stand taken by India during the incursion by Chinese troops into Indian
territory, he said, "Chinese Army stayed in tents in DoB for 21 days. I
want to ask the PM and External Affairs Minister why Chinese and Indian Army
troops retreated? China had to leave as they had intruded into this side, but
why Indian troops were forced to return from their own land? PM and External
Affairs Minister should answer to people of India.

ISLAMABAD: Career infantry officer Gen Raheel
Sharif, considered to be a moderate and an old India hand, today took over the
command of the 600,000-strong Pakistan Army from Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Gen Kayani, the
longest serving army chief under a civilian government, passed the baton of
command to 57-year- old Gen Sharif at an impressive ceremony held at the
General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.

Gen Sharif was
chosen by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as the 15th chief of the Pakistan Army on
Wednesday.

The army chief is
considered to be the most powerful person in Pakistan, with the military having
ruled the country for more than half its 66-year history.

Gen Sharif, who
holds the Hilal-i-Imtiaz award, is the younger brother of highly decorated
Major Shabbir Sharif, who was killed in the 1971 war with India.

He had superseded
senior most military officer Lt Gen Haroon Aslam to the post. Aslam took early
retirement and tendered his resignation yesterday.

Gen Sharif assumes
charge amid tensions on the border with India and Pakistan's fight with Taliban
insurgents and increased violence in the country.

Pakistani analysts
view Sharif, who now heads the 600,000-strong army, as a moderate who sees the
militant threat inside Pakistan as just as important as the strategic tussle
with India.

Before his last
posting as a Principal Staff Officer in General Headquarters, Sharif commanded
the Gujranwala-based XXX Corps, which is responsible for the Line of Control
and the international border in Punjab, between 2010 and 2012.

He is considered
an old India hand and played a key role in framing Pakistan's response to the
Indian Army's new doctrines, sources said.

Though Prime
Minister Sharif has pressed for peace with India, it will all depend on what
Gen Sharif really wants.

The Army would take steps to keep at bay
terrorists and other subversive elements who might try to interfere with the
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections due next year, a top Army officer said.

"We are not
concerned if people vote or not. However, there is no doubt that terrorists
might try to interfere with the election process and we will ensure that they
do not get the space to carry out their evil designs," General officer
Commanding of the Army's 15 Corps Lt Gen Gurmit Singh told PTI.

The Corps
Commander said there was desperation among the militant ranks across the Line
of Control to push in as many ultras into the Valley as possible ahead of the
elections.

"From
election perspective, next three to four months are very critical. The
terrorists will try to subvert the elections and for that they need to
reinforce their numbers in the Valley," he said.

According to Lt
Gen Singh, the Army will carry out area- domination exercise, especially in
rural areas of Kashmir, to keep at bay the militants and other subversive
elements.

He said the Army
has no direct role to play in the elections in Kashmir but it would ensure a
conducive atmosphere for those willing to cast votes.

"We are an
apolitical organisation and do not play any direct role in conduct of elections
anywhere in the country, including Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

Separatists in the
past have accused the Army and other security forces of forcing people to cast
votes in order to boost the credibility of elections in Kashmir.

Lt Gen Singh said
the recent infiltration bid in Keran sector was a new strategy by militant
handlers in Pakistan to push in large number of ultras into the Valley from
multiple points with the aim of taking the security grid by surprise.

"Due to the
excellent counter-infiltration grid in place, we have been able to thwart this
new methodology they (Pakistani handlers of militants) wanted to try," he
said.

The Corps
Commander said the Keran infiltration bid in September was a departure from the
tactics used by militants in the past as only small groups of two to three
ultras would try to sneak across the Line of Control.

"The fact
that eight terrorists were killed in the operation and 66 assorted weapons were
recovered indicates that the group was very large," he said.

The Corps
Commander said the large number of pistols seized from Keran indicated that
militants would use these weapons for targeted killings, particularly political
workers.

He said the ultras
had tried to infiltrate from various points within Keran sector with the aim
that some of them manage to get past the counter-infiltration grid and reach
the hinterland.

"There has
been desperation among the militant ranks to reinforce the foot soldiers and
revitalise the command following neutralisation of over 100 active militants in
the Valley which included arrest of several top militant commanders," he
said.

Lt Gen Singh said
although there were increased number of infiltration bids from across the LoC
this year, the vigil maintained by the Army has ensured that the
"nefarious designs of inimical elements were thwarted".

"The
counter-infiltration grid is a multi-layer system ... sometimes we deliberately
allow terrorists to cross the first layer and catch them at the second to
ensure the success of the operation," he said.

The Army commander
said more than 40 militants were killed in the operations along the Line of
Control this year while 31 of them were eliminated in anti-militancy operations
in the hinterland.